Marketing of Growing Up Milk

Earlier this week, I shared this article on my social media channels - Breastfeeding is winning! So companies are pushing “toddler milk” to neurotic parents.  I find this article very important to merit its own blog post. One paragraph in the article struck me most:

Often, these drinks contain much higher levels of protein than breast milk or cow’s milk, health advocates say, which undercuts demand for healthy food. “When you drink a lot of formula milk, your appetite is not so good,” Ip said. That makes parents think their kids are picky eaters, she said, which then leads them to feed them more toddlers milk. These companies “are trying to solve problems they are creating,” she said.

Effects of Advertising Preschool Milk

Think that the marketing of toddler formula is harmless?  Think again.

I received this message and photo from a fellow breastfeeding mother:

My son is in preschool and they're studying the letter "M" so one of the words they're learning is "milk". I'm really disappointed that the graphic they use for the kids to associate with milk is the one shown in the attached picture. My son wasn't breastfed, but his little brother was and he knows the concept of mommy milk. I feel bad because they could just have easily used a picture of a glass of milk instead of a formula can.

Hakab Na! 2013

Last Saturday, the Philippines held its very first Hakab Na! 2013 breastfeeding awareness campaign.  I was one of the organizers of this event and you can read the background of how we planned and prepared for this event in Rappler.